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Breakfast dinner salad

Just when I thought I had found the world’s best salad, the very next evening (a Monday of all evenings!) I come across a close second contender! It is described as a breakfast salad, and while a salad is not something I’d really consider having for breakfast, I’d certainly be happy with most, if not all of the ingredients for breakfast!

I have to confess, there was a point while I was carefully following the recipe that I wondered if it was going to be one of the complete disaster, this-is-what-happens-when-you-believe-the-internet recipes. But I followed through and had a delicious dinner. It’s the dressing that is the winning ingredient(s) I think – although like any wonderful dressing, it’s perfect matched with what it’s dressing and comes together to make a delightful main meal.

I’ve listed baby kale as an ingredient as ‘regular’ kale can be a bit chewy and stringy. If you do use this, you might want to just very lightly steam it to soften it and it will also be a lovely emerald green.

There is a little bit of preparation and timing (although it doesn’t matter if some of your cooked ingredients are room temperature rather than steaming hot) but it is definitely worth the effort. The recipe suggests bacon, and I had intended to use leftover turkey rashers but accidentally used them up the night before. It was still delicious without but I’ve included them in the list below as I’d definitely want to include them next time!

It also hits a few boxes I’ve been trying to tick recently: high in protein but vegetarian, pretty much carb free, a different way of using egg that I’d ever contemplated, and perfectly satisfying as a main meal but not at all heavy.

Additionally I’ve yet to find anything so finely straddling a zen like state of meditation along with utter boiled up (excuse the pun) frustration as peeling a soft boiled egg without breaking it. There’s a lot to consider when boiling eggs, I realised while preparing for this recipe! The internet generally seems to say 5 minutes for soft boiled, but I err sightly under this.

Ingredients (for 2):

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp parsley

2 tsp honey

1 small chunk ginger

baby kale

2 slices bacon or turkey rashers

half an onion

1 sweet potato

2 soft boiled eggs

1 avocado

cherry toms

What to do:
Timing can be a bit tricky so I’d prep what you can beforehand:

Prep:

Make the salad dressing by blitzing together the first 7 ingredients and a small handful of the baby kale. Taste and adjust as you like, then set aside.

Slice the onion.

Cube the sweet potato.

Half the cherry tomatoes.

Fill a pan with water for the eggs and put it on the heat to start a rolling boil. Take eggs out of the fridge to get to room temperature.

Then start in earnest!

Gently saute the onion for about 7-8 minutes until soft, then set aside.

Add the sweet potato, with a tbsp of water and leave to cook for about 10 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn’t stick. When it’s soft and ready, set aside as well.

Fry the bacon until cooked and set aside to cool so you can dice it.

Put the eggs in the pan of boiling water and set the timer for 4 minutes.

Chuck the halved cherry tomatoes into the pan you’ve just taken the bacon out of and keep on the heat. They only need to heat for a minute or two on high, so once that’s happened, set them aside too.

When the eggs are ready, take them out of the pan and rinse them under cold water for a minute or two. Not only does it stop them cooking, but you’ll thank yourself later when you need to peel them!

While you’re waiting for them to cool, start preparing your plate. Lightly line the plate with kale, then sprinkle all your ingredients on top, including dicing the avocado.

Peel the eggs (I find this easiest by gently cracking the shall all over the egg before starting to peel). Add the egg to the salad, and pour over the dressing. Cut the egg and hope for a runny yolk!